Wolters Kluwer Health may email you for journal alerts and information, but is committed
to maintaining your privacy and will not share your personal information without
your express consent. For more information, please refer to our Privacy Policy.

Results: There were 236 deaths with respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause, and 833 deaths were respiratory disease related (entity axis diagnosis). Included among these were 79 deaths with pneumonia listed as the underlying cause and 316 pneumonia-related deaths, and 77 deaths were due to aspiration pneumonia. There was no significant difference in the effect of running compared with walking (per MET-hour per day) on mortality; thus, runners and walkers were combined for analysis. Respiratory disease mortality decreased 7.9% per MET-hour per day as the underlying cause (95% CI, 1.6%–14.0%; P = 0.01) and 7.3% for all respiratory disease-related deaths (95% CI, 4.2%–10.4%; P = 10−5). Pneumonia mortality decreased 13.1% per MET-hour per day as the underlying cause (95% CI, 2.6%–23.2%; P = 0.01) and 10.5% per MET-hour per day for all pneumonia-related deaths (95% CI, 5.4%–15.5%; P = 0.0001). The risk for aspiration pneumonia mortality also did not differ between running and walking, and it decreased 19.9% per MET-hour per day run or walked (95% CI, 8.9%–30.2%; P = 0.0004). These results remained significant when additionally adjusted for body mass index.

Conclusions: Higher doses of running and walking were associated with lower risk of respiratory disease, pneumonia, and aspiration pneumonia mortality in a dose-dependent manner, and the effects of running and walking appear equivalent. These effects appear to be independent of the effects of exercise on cardiovascular disease.

Enter and submit the email address you registered with. An email with instructions to reset your password will be sent to that address.

Email:

Password Sent

Link to reset your password has been sent to specified email address.

Remember me

What does "Remember me" mean?
By checking this box, you'll stay logged in until you logout. You'll get easier access to your articles, collections,
media, and all your other content, even if you close your browser or shut down your
computer.

To protect your most sensitive data and activities (like changing your password),
we'll ask you to re-enter your password when you access these services.

What if I'm on a computer that I share with others?
If you're using a public computer or you share this computer with others, we recommend
that you uncheck the "Remember me" box.